Concrete bar spacer



March 31, 1925. 1,531,635

W. E. WHITE CONCRETE BAR SPACER Original Filed April 1. 1 920 PatentedMar. 31, 1925.

UNITED STATES WILLIAM E. WHITE, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

, CONCRETE BAR SPACER. R j

Application filed April 1, 1920, Serial No. 370,453.

To all 70/107 it may concern:

Be it known that I, VVILLIAM E. IV ITE, a citizen of the United States,and resident of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in a Concrete BarSpacer, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to concrete reinforcing means and particularly to anovel spacing device for use in connection therewith.

Inasmuch as the means employed for suitably holding the reinforcingelements in spaced relation, prior toand during the pouring and thetamping of the plastic mate rial, make no contribution to the strengthof the mass it is desirable to reduce the cost thereof to a. minimumconsistent with efficiency in operation and ease of handling andinstallation. To that end I have devised a spacer which for simplicityandecono-my in original cost cannot be equalled; 1t is composed of aminimum number of parts, can be manufactured very cheaply, may bereadily bundled for shipment and installed by unskilled labor withoutthe use of special tools.

The fundamental idea sought to be protected herein is that of utilizinga single, continuous length or strand of relatively stiff wire, andsecuring chairs thereto at intervals by spot welding, the chairs beinglikewise composed of short lengths of wire bent into V-shape, the weldbeing made at the junction of the strand with the apex of the V-shapedchairs. Metal in the form of wire is produced very cheaply, is readilyavailable and, when properly disposed, provides the greatest strengthfor any given unit of material. Thus it will be seen that a spacingdevice constructed as herein described is efiicient in use andeconomical in cost.

The invention will be more readily understood by reference to theaccompanying drawing wherein:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a section of a spacer constructed in accordancewith my invention;

F 2 is a perspective View showing the manner of use;

Fig. 3 is a side View; and,

Fig. 4 is a sectional end view.

In the drawings it will be seen that I utilize a single continuouslength of wire 10 which may be of such gauge and stiffness as to enablethe handling of required lengths without excessive bending or kinking.As-

Renewed September 5, 1924.

sociated with the continuous length of wire are chairs each of which maybe composed of a short length of wire doubled on itself to form aU-shaped loop, the legs of which are transversely bent to form a pair ofparallel V-shaped members, joined by the bend 11, thereby providingseparate legs 1212 and legs 13, connected by the curved section 11. Theterminal points of the legs 12 will. be relatively sharp and assure afirm footing when engaged with a Wooden form. These chairs may veryreadily be formed in an automatic machine, and the variations in orderto accommodate different specificationswill I be few. The principalvariation isin the spacing of the reinforcing bars and thisis'controlled by varying the point at which the chairs are secured to thecontinuous wire.

The longitudinal wire 10 and the chairs will be joined preferably byelectric welding at the junction ofthe wire with the apex'la of theV-shaped members constituting the chair. The space between the adjacentmembers will act as a seat for a reinforcing bar 0 of either square orround cross-section, a bar 15, of round section, being shown in Fig. 2.

In the construction shown the continuous wire 10 is located beneath thebend 14 in the i chair member and firmly held in that position bywelding. It will be readily apparent, however, that this may be variedto the extent of locating the wire in a recess above the chair andequally advantageous results secured. In any event a spacing device of00v relatively great, strength and rigidity is formed and at a minimumexpense. Fur thermore, it is apparent that one of the reasons for theeconomy in the cost of production is in that there is no waste of metal,each unit of metal being utilized to its fullest capacity in theconstruction shown.

A tie wire, such as indicated at 16', may be welded to the lower surfaceof the wire 10, its middle portion being directly beneath the apex ofthe chair, while its ends are 010- positely laterally deflected, as bestshown in Fig. 1. When used to attach a bar, the ends are bent around thebar and twisted together as shown in Fig. 2.

Obviously it is unnecessary to follow the exact construction shown anddescribed in order to secure good results and I do not wish to belimited. exceptas indicated in the appended claims. no

I claim:

1. In concrete reinforcement, the combination of a length of Wireadapted to extend transversely of reinforcing bars, and chairs Welded tosaid Wire at intervals, said chairs being composed of a loop of Wire,the loop I being bent transversely at its middle portion into V-shape,substantially as described.

2. In concrete reinforcement, the combination of a continuous spacingmember, and chairs associated therewith, said chairs be ing composed ofa length of Wire bent into a loop, the loop being then bent into V-shape, the spacing member being Welded thereto at the apex of the V,substantially as described.

3. In a device of the class described, the combination of a spacingmember and chairs associated therewith, said chairsbeing com posed of alength of Wire bent into U-shape, the tWolegs being then benttransversely to form tWo parallel -V-shaped members con nected at oneend, the chairs being Welded to the spacing member, substantially as described.

i. A bar spacing device composed of a continuous length of Wire, and aseparately formed chair composed of tWo sections of Wire bent intoinverted V-shape' the sections being spaced apart, the length of Wire being located. beneath the sections of Wire at the bend therein and Weldedthereto, the space between the chair Wires being such as to :torm a seatfor a reinforcing bar, substantially as described.

Signed at Chicago, Illinois, this 29th day of March, 1920.

IVILLIAM E. WHITE.

Witness:

T. D. BUTLER.

